The actress, 41, won an Emmy for Mike & Molly this year and has awards buzz for her role in Bridesmaids.

What did you learn from your nonacting jobs before you hit it big? “To be kind to people. I think everybody should wait tables, because you get the best and worst thrown in your face. People would lash out at me, and I just thought, ‘I’m working so hard. Why are you yelling about a vodka and tonic?'”

You must have had a blast making Bridesmaids. “It was really weird character stuff, right up my alley, that I’d never gotten to do in a movie. I’m just shy of playing a man in it, wearing pleated Dockers and an orthopedic shoe. I had the time of my life.”

Are you as perky offscreen as you are on? “I have a lot of energy. And I feel like I got hit with a lucky stick: I have the greatest husband and two little girls who make me crazy—in a good way—and I love what I do for a living. What’s there to be blue about?”